Power distribution equipment is commonly employed in power stations and power plants to deliver power to connected loads. Classically, the systems of this nature consist of a power distribution bay that receives power from a source and distributes that power to the loads by way of output power feeds. Circuit protection devices (e.g., fuses, circuit breakers), located within the bays, protect the loads from excessively high currents and voltages. Once a load is connected to one of the feeds, current flows through the circuit protection device of the output power feeds and to the load.
As with most electronic power supply equipment, it is advantageous to efficiently make use of the power distribution equipment. In order to maximize the use of the equipment, it is preferable to ascertain a utilization of the power distribution system. The utilization may be determined by comparing the portion of the equipment and circuits under use to the total circuit capacity of the power distribution system.
Presently, operators monitor the current flowing into the various power distributions bays to determine the utilization of the bay in relation to its total capacity or ampacity. In other words, the common practice is to monitor the current capacity of the bays under use. Unfortunately, this method is generally deficient in that monitoring current capacity is inaccurate and, more specifically, it does not supply adequate information as to the actual number of power feeds that are being used. Rarely does a bay exhaust its current capacity. Rather, the bay will employ all of its power feeds long before reaching its current capacity limit. Therefore, monitoring current capacity does not adequately measure the number of circuits under use in light of the total circuit capacity of the power distribution bay.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a monitoring system for a power distribution system that more accurately determines a circuit utilization thereof and overcomes deficiencies of the prior art.